Cast iron is my go to item in my kitchen and the outdoors for our cooking and baking. They not only keep my arms in shape, but they are phenomenal to use and provide healthy iron in our diet. Every meal in our home is baked or cooked with love on or in a piece of cast iron.
We utilize the dutch oven on our wood stove all winter long and I use the same piece in my Sun Oven throughout the year as well. Using cast iron in the Sun Oven has a real benefit in that your food will keep cooking when the sun goes behind the clouds because cast iron holds the heat. Using my wood stove as well as the Sun Oven is a great way to harness natural resource which will also allow you to eliminate some expenses, not to mention the amazing smells that careen through your house while using the wood stove and the moist amazing dishes that come out of the Sun Oven.
We just had wonderful guests during hunting season and to make breakfast quick and easy I utilized my griddle which is such a wonderful piece. Most of my cast iron are antiques found in varying places during my travels to yard sales, antique shops and thrift stores! I wrote an article on preserving your cast iron that will be in Self Reliance Illustrated's Winter 2014 issue.
I treasure all my cast iron pieces and have been blessed to find some real amazing pieces. One day in Pennsylvania, while out riding my motorcycle I passed a yard sale with a HUGE kettle – after spinning my bike around very quickly I managed to purchase that kettle for $40.00 right out from under some interested fella. I was unaware, I promise, but he told the fella having the yard sale if she is that excited about that kettle she should have it…. Needless to say, I bought it, but certainly could not strap it fast to the motorcycle. I couldn't get home fast enough to get the truck. I looked and looked for a kettle for the Mountain Man previously for Christmas, but I could not find any for under $100.00 and as soon as I found them, they were already sold, so that was another reason that purchase was special! Not to mention it has come in really handy here in the Idaho wilderness!
I also purchased what they call a pig pot which is an oval cooker that is probably 24″ wide and 16 to 18″ high which can also be hung over an open fire. The Mountain Man makes varying handcrafted wooden spoons and kitchen utensils for me that need to be boiled for a long periods of time to keep them from cracking in the future and this pot was an added bonus for this task due to it's size.
Here are some of our favorite recipes made in the cast iron skillet:
Wilderness Pumpkin Skillet Cake (Gluten Free and Dairy Free)
Bacon Buttermilk Skillet Cornbread
Check out the 5 piece Lodge cast iron set *affiliate link and reviews we'll be shipping to one lucky winner.
What yummy dish would you be making with these if you were to be our lucky winner?
To enter this giveaway you must be 18 years of age and live in the lower 48 states of the United States (sorry, shipping costs and other laws prohibit us from making it open to everyone else) Go here to read our complete list of contest giveaway rules. This giveaway is sponsored by:
Melissa K. Norris of Pioneering Today 25+ One Dish Cast Iron and Dutch Oven Recipes
Laurie of Common Sense Homesteading
Tammy of Trayer Wilderness
Lisa of The Suvival Mom 12 White Hot Ways to use Cast Iron
Kathie of Home Spun Seasonal Living
#TrayerWilderness
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Paid Endorsement Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase through an affiliate link I will make a commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting TrayerWilderness.com and keeping us up, educating, inspiring and running! ♥
Through the years rating my children, I have lost all but one cast iron skillet. All of this was from loaning it out. I have cooked everything imaginable in it. From cake, cornbread, a.d more. Meatloaf cooked in it, cannot be beat. Same for everything else cooked in it. Cast iron seems to make everything taste better, as was proven, when my daughter cooked the exact same thing in regular pots, and pans, while I did it in cast iron. It was for a gathering, and that was cooked in cast iron, was eaten till gone, and there was still some of the other left.
Love Cast Iron!! Best and Tastiest way to Cook!!
I have a few cast iron pieces that I use all the time. I love cooking with them, as when they heat up, they really hold the heat evenly. If I have to fry something, nothing does a better job than the cast iron.
Amazingly, even though I purchased one of my pots new many years ago, I’ve found the others for a SONG at garage sales. My beautiful Dutch Oven, I found for $3–yes, THREE DOLLARS–at a garage sale. I snatched it up so fast, I must have been a blur. 🙂
I love the few pieces I have.
Hello <3 I wandered over from Pinterest. I own the very small Lodge skillet that we use for making a single fried egg. If I won this uber cool giveaway I would definitely make bacon buttermilk skillet cornbread ….yum!
Smiles, DianeM
Not sure if it is my favorite or not because I love all things food. But for Thanksgiving I always have to make stripe delight!!! My mother in law use to make it and for some reason I did one year and now that is my main request from family members.
Eggs, bacon, potatoes and cheese in a Dutch oven is fabulous! Thanks for the opportunity to win this! XOXO
Right now I only have one piece of cast iron and I really want to learn how to cook more with it. This would be a good way to get started. I love listening to your show, I can’t wait for the new ones to get posted.
wonderful post. thanks for the giveaway. I love lodge cast iron products.
we cook sausage, zucchini , yellow squash and onions with garlic ,salt and pepper in our cast iron skillet.
great contest!
I am looking forward to using the cookware with the receipe
Bacon Buttermilk Skillet Cornbread
nice set of cookware. Everyone should get used to this type of cooking.
I love cooking with the 2 skillets that we have. I so want to expand to using a Dutch Oven and having more choices than 2 of the same size skillet would be wonderful.
I love making biscuits and cornbread in my cast iron skillet…I have made cornbread in other dishes but you just don t get that crust!!!
I love cooking so it is hard to pick just one recipe. Thank you
our favorite use for our dutch oven is a deliciously thick venison stew and biscuits w/ a huge upside-down (apple, peach or pineapple) cake done in our 13″ skillet.
Right now it’s beef stew and biscuits 😀
One can never have too much cast iron! 😀 So far my favorite is pan seared pork chops with sauted apples!
I would love to win this set. I had to leave all my old cast iron with the ex when he got the house, and I got an apartment. 🙁
I love making apple pie.
Grandma’s biscuits and Aunt Hetties corn bred. My skillet is a hand me down and well used but i LOVE cast iron.
My fave recipe is skillet Chilaquiles. Spicy, cheesy, and delicious!
I use all of my cast iron pots every day and the skillets get LOTS of use! And they are definitely good for the muscles!
We’re just learning about cast iron. It’s all my grandma used to cook with.
I will be making the yummy looking cornbread – or maybe some sort of egg dish – with lots of butter.
Chicken pot pie